


this everglow

by dygonilly



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: 'Hey' 'What?' 'Just wanted to take another look at you', Canon Compliant, Gay yearning, Hotel Sex, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, Tender Hand Holding, in the abstract sense, loads of eye contact, pool kisses, wine dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dygonilly/pseuds/dygonilly
Summary: Joshua looks back at Mingyu to smile--feels like that’s all he’s done since they huddled together in the kitchen at 1am, bright and excited,are we really doing this?-- and finds Mingyu already smiling back.And it’s strange, after so many years of knowing him, of seeing him more than his own family, of seeing his face on billboards and big screens and practise room mirrors, Joshua feels like he should be immune to moments like this. Moments where his eyes flicker over Mingyu’s face and he thinks to himself:oh, Kim Mingyu is attractive. Because of course he is. It just escapes Joshua’s notice sometimes. Or, he actively buries the thought every time it rears its head. Either one.
Relationships: Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 19
Kudos: 232





	this everglow

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know the exact timeline for the spontaneous gay trip these two took to the philippines, but for the sake of this story it's at least around the time joshua started getting beefy.
> 
> i listened to [mingyu's spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3vxhMF3QhNhis0JUCefqUg?si=ypFJ8uETQC28YIL0sPM2qA) while i wrote this so he is 90% responsible for this. as well as the title.
> 
> enjoy !

The hotel doors open to a blissfully air-conditioned foyer and Joshua makes a beeline for the couches. He dumps his backpack to the side and sinks into the cushions. Incredible, really, how this time yesterday he was eating a late breakfast in the dorm and now he’s in the Philippines. It took fifteen minutes to book and just short of five hours on a plane and he’s staring at the ornate ceiling of a hotel lobby with another stamp in his passport and one less hour on his watch.

Mingyu breezes in through the doors with his own bag rolling loudly behind him. He smiles when he spots Joshua and walks over to sit next to him. “Wow, this is so nice!” he says giddily, resting a hand just above Joshua’s knee and using it to steady himself as he looks around. “We did a good job.”

Joshua laughs. “We literally searched ‘Cebu good hotel’ and booked the first one.”

Mingyu smiles with his teeth. He’s been smiling all morning, humming to himself and taking photos of anything and everything. It’s kind of endearing and Joshua feels light and happy despite the tiring process that is international travel. Maybe it’s the thrill of travelling just the two of them. Maybe it’s the adrenaline from being impulsive. Either way, Mingyu hasn’t left Joshua’s side for more than five minutes at a time, even texting him _ughhhh the line is so long sorry i will be back as soon as i can_ and a selfie to confirm his sincerity. He was in the bathroom next to the departure gate. Joshua called him ridiculous but saved the photo anyway.

“Shall we check in?” Mingyu asks. He stands up and wiggles his knees to straighten out his pants. Somewhere between passport control and the taxi, two more buttons on his linen shirt slipped open despite the material already being loose enough to careen off his collarbone whenever he moved. Joshua would point out that there’s no-one around to impress, but the truth is he doesn’t mind. Mingyu’s skin looks good in white. He looks up from his phone and Joshua looks somewhere else. 

“Hyung? Do you wanna wait here or do you think they need to see us both?”

Joshua isn’t sure--he’s never travelled with just a friend before, never been the one in charge, always guided by either his parents or a manager. “I guess we should both go?” he says, and Mingyu nods in agreement.

Joshua takes charge because the receptionist seems more comfortable with English and he feels responsible as the eldest. Ten minutes later, they’re riding the elevator up to the fourteenth floor and geeking out over the pamphlet the receptionist gave them describing all the amenities and some of the day trips organised by the hotel. 

“Oh my god, they have an indoor pool,” Mingyu gushes, practically hopping on the spot. Joshua hums with big eyes and pulls the pamphlet closer with a hand on Mingyu’s forearm. Mingyu moves his whole body closer instead and Joshua huffs a laugh through his nose. “Wow it looks so nice at night, with all the lights,” Mingyu continues, “we should go!”

“Sure.” Joshua thinks he’ll say yes to anything on this trip. They’re only here for two and a half days before they have to rush back for a schedule on Monday. It’s a miracle they were given the green light to leave the country at all.

The elevator pings and the doors glide open. “1421,” Mingyu reads off their little plastic card. “Turn right, hyung.”

“Turning right.” 

Hotels are familiar. This--waiting for one of the members to scan a room card and push open the door in a race to call first dibs on the best bed--is familiar. Except this time there’s nobody else in the corridor around them, no laughing or squabbling, just the muted-carpet-quiet and Mingyu pouting as the light turns red every time he tries to pull the card out and push the handle down at the same time.

After the fourth try, Mingyu says, “Ugh! Shua-hyung, you do it.”

Joshua gets it on the first go and looks over his shoulder at Mingyu with a smug grin. “Oh you know, just natural talent,” he says, laughing when Mingyu pushes him.

Joshua freezes midway into the room. “Mingyu…”

“Woah check out this shower!” Mingyu’s voice echoes in the bathroom. “Mini soap! Yes!” 

“Mingyu!” Joshua repeats, voice wobbly with laughter. Mingyu pads out of the bathroom with a grin that freezes at the sight of the huge double bed. The _only_ bed. Joshua meets his eyes and they both hiccup with the effort of not laughing. “Did you forget to check which type of room it was before you booked it?” 

“Maaaaaayyyybbbbeeee,” Mingyu says, looking at Joshua with his lips pressed together and eyes twinkling.

“We could ask if they have another free room.”

“No, c’mon,” Mingyu whines. He kicks his shoes off and takes a running jump to the bed. He pretends to make a snow angel in the comforter for a second before propping himself up on an elbow to look imploringly at Joshua. “It’s no fun if we overthink it.”

Joshua looks at him stretched out on the bed, eyes bright, hair unstyled and flat from the plane ride. It’s such a familiar scene, but something about it feels new, elusive, exciting. Joshua packs away his pride and whatever else is making him itch at the thought of sharing a bed with Mingyu. No overthinking.

“Fine,” he sighs, loud and over the top, “but don’t steal the covers.” He doesn’t actually care about that part, but it’s fun to tease Mingyu. 

“I don’t do that!” Mingyu says, sitting up. Joshua gives him a flat look on his way to the bathroom. “Alright, fine, then I’ll pay for dinner tonight to make up for it.”

“Okay, deal!”

Mingyu cheers, but then his eyebrows pinch together. “Wait, did you just trick me?” 

Joshua blows him a kiss before closing the door.

  
  


*

  
  


They don’t have enough energy to do much more than wander that afternoon, using a map and some recommendations from reception. 

Mingyu takes photos like he’s never seen the ocean and gets excited about every souvenir shop they pass. They connect to wi-fi at an ice-cream shop and Seungkwan video calls them so he can pout over not being at the beach despite throwing a pillow right in Mingyu’s face when they asked him if he wanted to come with them the night before.

They take their ice cream and sit on a bench facing the water. Mingyu switches with Joshua after he decides he doesn’t like the cherry flavour (despite trying it beforehand) and Joshua accepts it with a fond eye roll. It’s worth it for the way Mingyu lights up over his mango sorbet, humming through his mouthfuls with wide eyes.

The sky is cloudy enough for the sunset to refract, the breeze is salty and humid, and Joshua keeps taking huge lungfuls of it like he can store it for a time when he feels tired and frustrated in his skin. Next week, most likely. It feels so good to have such a physical break, but the fact that they only have such a short time makes Joshua sad in a way that he doesn’t want to linger on. He watches a group of people their age wander past, shoes hanging off the crooks of their fingers, pants rolled up to the ankle, and he wonders what it feels like.

He wonders for so long that he misses the ice cream dripping until it’s already hitting his wrist and Mingyu yelps, “Hyung!” 

“Oh, oops,” says Joshua, looking around for a napkin. 

“I got it!” Suddenly Mingyu’s fingers are wrapped around his forearm and his tongue licks a long, thick stripe over Joshua’s wrist bone and up the side of his palm. Joshua startles so much he almost drops his ice cream. 

Mingyu just wrinkles his nose. “Hm. Still don’t like the cherry.”

Joshua splutters, at a total loss for words. His brain replays the moment three more times before it spits out, “Gross, Mingyu-yah” like a middle-schooler. 

Mingyu makes a kissy face in response and Joshua tries to shove him off the bench with little success. Mingyu laughs. It’s loud and stupid and he is so beautiful, and Joshua desperately wishes he would stop noticing. 

“I’m so glad we did this,” Mingyu says after a while, breaking the quiet that had settled between them. There’s a young family splashing around in the shallows and Mingyu smiles dopily, coos under his breath when the child shrieks at a wave catching their toes. 

Joshua watches his sunset-drenched profile for a few moments before he says, “Me too. It’s weird to be… not to have everyone else around.”

“So weird! I keep thinking we left someone behind, like,” Mingyu mimes looking over his shoulder in panic and Joshua giggles.

Joshua picks at his napkin, takes a big breath in, lets it out. “It’s nice, though,” he tells the horizon.

“Yeah, it is.” 

Joshua looks back at Mingyu to smile--feels like that’s all he’s done since they huddled together in the kitchen at 1am, bright and excited, _are we really doing this?_ \-- and finds Mingyu already smiling back. 

And it’s strange, after so many years of knowing him, of seeing him more than his own family, of seeing his face on billboards and big screens and practise room mirrors, Joshua feels like he should be immune to moments like this. Moments where his eyes flicker over Mingyu’s face and he thinks to himself: _oh, Kim Mingyu is attractive._ Because of course he is. It just escapes Joshua’s notice sometimes. Or, he actively buries the thought every time it rears its head. Either one.

Eventually the sun sets and the wind picks up so they stand to leave, ready to shower and find something for dinner. Mingyu catches Joshua by the shoulder and taps his own chin. “Hyung, you’ve got…”

Joshua backs up. “If you try and lick it off again, I’ll throw your camera in the ocean.”

Mingyu’s eyes sparkle in a way Joshua knows all too well. He gets ten metres down the beach with Mingyu’s Nikon before he’s swept up by his waist from behind and marched back up to the boardwalk.

  
  


*

  
  


Joshua is woken up in the middle of the night, but it’s not because Mingyu stole the blankets. Rather, it’s because Mingyu has crossed the maginot line of the mattress in his sleep, head half on Joshua’s pillow and knees bumping the back of Joshua’s thighs. His arm is draped over the dip of Joshua’s waist and his breath is steady and warm against Joshua’s neck. It would be hot and uncomfortable if they didn’t have the air conditioning on and the covers scattered around their bodies like an ink spill, anyway. 

His first instinct is to shove Mingyu away, let him grumble and flop back to his side and carry on sleeping like it never happened, but Joshua has lived with him for long enough to know what his breath sounds like when he’s asleep and when he’s faking it. 

Mingyu is awake, and Joshua feels frozen with it.

It’s not unusual. Mingyu likes pressing himself against any body he can, if they will allow it, if they will move to fit, if they will hold him too. He doesn’t do it if he knows the other person will be uncomfortable. He never does it with Joshua.

Joshua is suddenly very aware of his breathing, hears it like crashing waves above the hum of the air conditioning, feels his heartbeat reverberating like percussion in a concert hall. Should he pretend he’s asleep, too? Should he push Mingyu away? He doesn’t really want to, but is that weird? Out of character? Maybe it’s more suspicious if he goes along with it. Maybe it’s--

“Hyung,” Mingyu breathes, cracked and low and sleepy. The arm draped across Joshua’s waist turns into a gentle palm against his stomach and Mingyu pats him gently, hand warm over his t-shirt. “Relax.”

“I am relaxed,” Joshua whispers; lies.

“Good.” Mingyu shuffles closer. His forearm dips under Joshua’s and his hand snakes up to rest against Joshua’s sternum. He uses it as leverage to press their bodies together and--they’re spooning. Alone in a hotel room in a foreign country with nobody but the moon peeking through the crack in the curtains.

Joshua is hyper aware of all the places they’re touching: the firm press of Mingyu’s chest against his shoulder blades, the way his knees are knocking together and his t-shirt has ridden up at the hem. He keeps his eyes trained on the digital clock on the bedside table; a gentle glow and anchor in the violet haze of the room. 

It seems like Mingyu has fallen asleep again until he rubs his nose against the nape of Joshua’s neck, firing off ripples of goosebumps all over Joshua’s body. “You work out?” he mumbles. His hand gently squeezes at Joshua’s chest, and it’s so stupid, but it shatters Joshua’s strange panic like glass. Mingyu is so intune with other people, with him; always so perfect at breaking the tension and pulling Joshua out of the viscous oil spill of his thoughts seconds before he drowns in them. Joshua envies him for it. 

Though he still feels embarrassed and too big for his body, he flexes his chest and Mingyu gasps, exaggerated and ridiculous. They trail off into giggles, soda bubbles fizzing and popping in their chests, and then to sleep, still pressed together on the right side of the bed with the covers half forgotten.

  
  


*

  
  


They don’t acknowledge it at breakfast because they woke up on opposite sides of the bed, and sleeping pressed against your friend with your hand over their heart and your lips grazing the top-most ridge of their spine is not something worth mentioning, right? Not even if you whisper _good morning_ to them with a sleep-cracked voice and a stupidly beautiful smile while you arch your back off the mattress and stretch your arms behind your head? 

Joshua watches Mingyu spread sunscreen around his neck and ears and arms and wonders if something is shifting between them, here, or if he is just overthinking things as usual.

Mingyu catches his eyes in the mirror and says, “What?”

Joshua shakes himself out of it. “You missed a bit. Here.” He walks over to poke the shell of Mingyu’s ear, but Mingyu doesn’t reach up to rub the cream in. Joshua sighs and does it for him. “You’re so lazy.”

“Thank you, hyung,” Mingyu grins.

“Whatever,” Joshua flicks his head. “Let’s go before we miss the shuttle bus, they said it leaves at ten.”

  
  


*

  
  


They spend the whole day jumping from one activity to the next, both hurried and relaxed as they soak up the ocean air and spend too long choosing where to eat and which colour hat to buy, taking photos and laughing over the ones that turn out terribly and sending the nice ones to the group chat. The number of members who regret not going with them has jumped to five, and as much as Joshua loves their company, he’s having fun with just Mingyu. They get along well. The day feels easy, and by the time they’re back in their hotel room to shower and unwind, Joshua feels satisfied even if they didn’t get to do everything on their list. 

“Alright,” says Mingyu, tossing his phone onto the bed and sitting up with a clap. “What are we doing for dinner?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. You’re the one paying for it.”

“What?!”

“You promised,” Joshua shrugs, rubbing aloe vera onto his forearms where they’re a bit pink.

“But I didn’t even steal the sheets. We shared them.” It’s the closest they’ve come to talking about it. Not that anything happened. Joshua pretends to read the ingredients on the bottle. “Fiiinnnneee, let’s go to the place downstairs.”

Joshua looks at him with wide eyes. “The hotel restaurant? It looks fancy. Which means--” He rubs the pad of his thumb and forefinger together.

Mingyu shrugs. “That’s fine.”

“Oh, Kim Mingyu!” Joshua puts a hand to his forehead and pretends to swoon. Mingyu goes pink in the cheeks and tosses a pillow at him, which he catches with a laugh.

“Get dressed in something nice. No t-shirts.”

“Who are you, Seungkwan? It’s just dinner.”

“I know.” Mingyu draws aimless circles in the comforter. “Just…” He shrugs. “Thought it would be fun.”

Joshua softens. “Good thing I brought this then,” he says, pulling a blush-rose shirt out of the closet. Mingyu grins. “You can shower first. But don’t take too long, I’m hungry.”

Mingyu jumps up from the bed like he’s been shocked, speeding around the room comically fast, grabbing things out of his suitcase like a bomb is about to go off. “Two minutes,” he promises, and slams the bathroom door.

He takes ten minutes, but it’s better than twenty, and Joshua can forgive him because he comes out in just his towel, hair dripping rivers over the tan expanse of his chest. They’ve been at the beach for most of the day and Joshua has seen more of Mingyu than this, but it’s the context. The weird buzzing in the pit of his stomach. It makes it feel… different. Joshua rushes into the bathroom with his clothes in a bundle before Mingyu can even tell him he’s done.

“Hyung, one or two?” Mingyu calls through the door, raised over the noise of the shower.

“Uh, two?”

“Thank you!”

Joshua dries his hair and gets dressed, struggling a little with the way his shirt laces together over the chest, white strands pulling through delicate silver eyelets. Minghao bought it for him for his birthday and he’s never worn it until now. He gives up after the third botched try and pulls the bathroom door open. “Mingyu-yah, I need help.”

Mingyu looks up from his phone and straightens up slowly, eyes raking over Joshua’s outfit. He looks beautiful, as always, in tan slacks and a loose patterned shirt that dips, open, down to his sternum. He’s wearing the necklace he bought today: gold against gold. “With what? You look really nice.”

Joshua scrunches his nose. “I can’t figure out the string.”

“Oh, did Myungho get you that?” Mingyu laughs, coming over and pulling the strings loose before deftly crossing them over and under each other, fingertips grazing Joshua’s skin feather-light. “I have one similar. It’s easier than it seems.” He finishes and looks up to meet Joshua’s eyes with a tiny smile. He nudges him around to look in the mirror and hooks his chin over Joshua’s shoulder. “We look good.”

“Yeah,” Joshua says, noticing how the pink in Mingyu’s shirt matches his. Almost like it was intentional. “Um, we should… it might be busy.”

“It’s fine, we have a reservation,” Mingyu says, finally giving him space to breathe. 

“Since when?”

“I booked it this morning.” Joshua gapes at him and Mingyu laughs. “What, you thought I would go back on my promise?” He puts a hand over his heart. “Shua-hyung, you wound me.”

Joshua hates how his stomach flutters. Mingyu is considerate with everyone. It’s not just him.

“You ready to go? I made it for eight-thirty which is… now.” Mingyu tucks his wallet into his back pocket and checks his hair one last time, and Joshua follows him out with a stupid smile tucked into the corners of his mouth.

  
  


*

“Should we get another bottle?” 

Joshua considers his final glass of wine, swirling it a little even though he already knows how it tastes. “No, I’m okay.” He feels good, just tipsy enough to feel loose and softened around the edges. 

Mingyu shrugs. “Okay.” He takes a sip of his own wine, chasing the taste of it on his own lips. His tongue is tinged red where it pokes out, and Joshua lets go of the delicate stem of his wine glass, lest he hold it too tightly and embarrass himself.

Dinner has left them slow and sated, and they trail into an amicable silence, unpressured by the need to fill it after being around each other for so long. Mingyu takes another generous sip of his wine and then leans his elbows on the tablecloth, looking at Joshua straight on. His shirt dips low enough to give Joshua an eyeful of his chest and the top of his stomach, but Joshua doesn’t take the bait. 

Joshua raises an eyebrow. “Yes?” he prompts.

Mingyu puts his chin in his palm and smiles with his eyes, then his cheeks, then his mouth. “You seem really happy. It’s nice.”

Joshua tilts his head with a soft chuckle. “I’m on holiday. Of course I’m happy.”

“I mean,” Mingyu waves his free hand a little too close to his wine glass and Joshua dutifully pulls it out of the way, “just overall. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just this place. I feel good, too.”

“I’m glad,” Joshua says gently. Mingyu settles and they look at each other for a few beats before Joshua gets shy and looks into his glass. The candle on their table is fake but the light of it dances sweetly over the tablecloth, catches on Mingyu’s rings and the dessert spoon the server forgot to collect. Joshua sees Mingyu’s fingers twitch, watches as he moves his hand forward half an inch, stops, and then commits to it and moves it over to tap at Joshua’s hand where it rests at the base of his wine glass. Joshua smiles to himself, even though he can feel Mingyu’s eyes on his face, and turns his hand over to let Mingyu’s fingers tap gently against his palm.

Mingyu starts to tap out a song. “Guess what it is.”

“I have no idea,” Joshua laughs.

“C’monnn, guess.” Mingyu plays it again and Joshua tries, he really does, but the best he can come up with is, “Baby Shark?”

Mingyu groans. “I’ll give you a hint.” He starts again, but this time he hums, and when Joshua picks out the melody of _Shallow_ he shakes his head with a smile. 

“Very predictable,” he says. 

“And yet,” Mingyu says, “you didn’t get it.”

“I will work harder in the future,” Joshua says seriously, bowing his head. He looks up and brings his other hand up in a finger heart that Mingyu pretends to swoon over. As they laugh, their hands shift, joining together, piano playing forgotten. Mingyu’s thumb traces the ridges of Joshua’s knuckles like it’s nothing. It is nothing, but it feels like a tornado between Joshua’s ribs.

Mingyu picks up the bill as he promised he would, waving away Joshua’s card with an almost insulted set to his brows. It’s late--they spent over two hours at the restaurant--but there are still people scattered around the bar and the foyer as they walk back to the elevators. 

Mingyu is walking close enough to Joshua’s side that their shoulders bump every few steps. When they reach the elevators, one of his hands finds Joshua’s again, fingers sliding down Joshua’s wrist, along his palm, and between the spaces of his fingers. He pulls away when the doors to the elevator slide open, and Joshua feels breathless. He catches sight of his reflection as they walk in; his cheeks are pink like his shirt. He blames it on the wine.

“I have an idea,” Mingyu says, pushing the button for the fourth floor. There’s nobody else in the elevator. Mingyu leans against the opposite wall with his hands spread out along the golden banister and looks at Joshua through his eyelashes. It feels like it weighs a tonne, all this space between them, like the elevator should be shuddering under the strain. 

“Fourth floor,” announces the loudspeaker, and Mingyu leads the way. 

Joshua sees the sign for the pool as they pass it. “Mingyu, where are we going?” he asks pointlessly.

Mingyu turns to walk backwards for a few steps with his hands in his pockets, achingly attractive and completely aware of it. “Swimming.”

They reach the entrance and Joshua is surprised to find it still open. There’s a corridor with shelves full of towels and spare sandals lined up along the wall and the floor is lined with something rubbery that squeaks under their shoes. The sign on the second door says they lock at midnight but, “I’m not wearing my swimming costume. Are you?”

Mingyu pushes the second door open and their footsteps echo on the tile. The pool water glows turquoise from the lights. They’re alone. Mingyu shrugs. “You didn’t go commando, did you, hyung?”

Joshua chokes. “Um, no, of course not.”

“Good.” Mingyu reaches back and pulls his shirt over his head in one fluid motion that leaves his hair ruffled at the back and over his brow. He reaches for his belt, and Joshua looks away with hot cheeks until he hears Mingyu tugging off his pants and then a splash as he jumps into the water.

He regrets his decision when Mingyu bursts out of the water, pushing his hair back out of his eyes, because now he either gets undressed in front of Mingyu or he goes back into the entrance to do it, and the second option is far more suspicious. Clinging to the leftover confidence from his last glass of wine, Joshua starts tugging at the strings on his shirt before gingerly pulling it over his head and folding it on the bench next to Mingyu’s clothes.

When he catches Mingyu watching him, Mingyu waggles his eyebrows, but he goes underwater to give Joshua the space to drop his pants and gingerly slip into the pool in his underwear. 

“Welcome,” Mingyu says cheerfully, floating over to him. The water is beautiful and warm and the lights on the floor cast ripples of blue across their skin. Joshua dips his own head underwater. When he resurfaces, Mingyu is closer than before, close enough that Joshua can see the water clinging to his eyelashes.

“I’ve never gone swimming while drunk before,” he says, like it’s a secret.

Joshua giggles. “We only had two glasses each!”

“Tipsy then, I don’t know. Feels nice.”

“Yeah,” agrees Joshua, sinking his chin under the water. They float in relative quiet for a few minutes before Mingyu speaks.

“Do you wanna try holding our breath? Loser buys dinner tomorrow.”

It’s a stupid idea, but Joshua’s competitiveness always wins over his sensibility. “Deal.”

Mingyu grins, wolfish, and counts down from three. They both take a gasping breath and duck under the water. Gentle pressure bears down around Joshua and his hearing becomes pleasantly dulled. He can probably hold out for a good twenty seconds. He keeps his eyes shut until he feels something brush against his arm and opens them, surprised, to find Mingyu’s hand close to his face. He bats it away but Mingyu brings it back, poking Joshua’s cheek and breaking his concentration.

“That’s cheating,” he splutters, rubbing the water out of his eyes to glare at Mingyu.

“I didn’t do anything!” Mingyu exclaims, hands up in surrender. 

“Rematch! And keep your hands to yourself this time.”

Mingyu crosses his heart. Joshua counts down this time, and they sink back under.

Five seconds pass. Mingyu drifts closer. Six seconds. 

The outline of his features are blurry but--seven--they’re moving closer and--eight--Mingyu’s fingers touch the side of Joshua’s neck--nine--he’s all that Joshua can see and feel and--ten--

It’s just a press of their mouths, a gentle wet pressure to add to the pressure around his lungs, but it shocks Joshua so much that he almost inhales through his nose. He pulls away and up, gasping for air, chest heaving. Mingyu follows, slower. The room echoes with the sound of their breathing. 

“I win,” Mingyu says, no louder than a whisper. 

“You cheated,” breathes Joshua.

Mingyu looks at his mouth. Joshua is terrified of everything he is feeling and everything this means. Mingyu must see it on his face because he brings a warm, steady hand to cup Joshua’s palm and whispers, “No overthinking.” He waits until Joshua nods, then he leans in and pauses with one inch left between their mouths, breath fanning out over Joshua’s chin. Joshua’s eyes drift closed. Mingyu captures his top lip between both of his in a slow, slow kiss, and he exhales through his nose, letting it happen. Mingyu kisses his bottom lip in the same way--slow, mouths soft against each other. 

The hand Mingyu has against his cheek moves around to the back of his neck and he uses it to tilt Joshua’s head back, to pull him closer, and then Mingyu is opening his mouth and kissing Joshua properly, and Joshua feels like clay under his fingers. 

Kissing Mingyu feels like a floodgate has opened in his gut, like all the lights have turned on at once, and he is blinded, dizzy with clarity. If you asked him two days ago if he wanted this, he would have denied it, but now that he has Mingyu’s hands on his body and his own name being pressed against his lips like it means something, Joshua thinks that he has been ruined for anyone else--possibly forever.

Mingyu presses in closer and makes a noise in his throat at the way their skin slides together in the water. Joshua makes a similar sound in response and blushes at the way it reverberates in the empty space, but Mingyu only hears it as encouragement, utters a broken, _fuck_ , and crowds him through the water until the backs of his legs nudge against a step and he ends up half sitting on it, half hanging off Mingyu’s shoulders.

Only then do they break apart to breathe, foreheads tilted together.

The pool water laps rhythmically against the tiles. Mingyu’s hands drop down to Joshua’s waist under the water and his thumbs dig in gently. Joshua squirms at the feeling and Mingyu laughs through his nose. “You’ve been working out a lot, hyung,” he says.

“You know that already. We train together.”

“Trust me, I know.” Mingyu looks at him with blown-out pupils and blushing cheeks and Joshua feels his desire like a bullet through his chest. 

Slowly, intentionally, Joshua slides his palms up Mingyu’s chest, along his collarbones, the beautiful curve of his shoulders, and the sides of his neck, where they rest. Mingyu is breathing heavily and his hands keep flexing against Joshua’s waist like he’s holding himself back, so Joshua kisses him first.

It’s far less gentle than before. 

Mingyu tugs their bodies together and forces Joshua’s lips apart, licking into his mouth. It’s a weird mix of red wine and the chlorine that’s dripping off the ends of their hair, but Joshua is too lost in sensation to really care. In this position, they’re pressed together from chest to stomach with Joshua’s thigh’s bracketing Mingyu’s hips, and when Mingyu moves his hands from Joshua’s waist to his ass and _squeezes_ , Joshua gasps into his mouth and his hips jolt forward. They both pause, almost comically, eyes wide.

“Are you hard?” whispers Mingyu.

“Yes,” Joshua whispers back furiously, face burning. “Why would y--of course I am. Sorry if it’s weird I can--”

“No,” Mingyu whines, and he uses the grip on Joshua’s ass to bring their groins back together, “It’s okay.” He kisses Joshua’s waiting mouth. “Me too.” Like Joshua can’t feel it, hard against the crease of his hip, his lower stomach. “Is it okay?”

It’s making Joshua lose the ability to think, a little, but it’s okay. “Yes,” he breathes. He nods to punctuate it. “Yeah it’s good. It’s okay.”

“Yeah?” Mingyu rolls their hips together and smirks when Joshua breathes out shakily. 

“What if someone comes in?”

“It’s late. Nobody wants to swim.”

Joshua laughs. “We’re here.”

“Nobody else,” corrects Mingyu, and kisses Joshua’s neck. Joshua sighs, leaning his head to the side to encourage Mingyu’s mouth to trace a line down the muscle. He licks a long stripe up to Joshua’s ear and then says, “Wanted to do that on the beach.”

“If you had, I would have punched you in the face,” Joshua says weakly. 

“I call bullshit,” Mingyu says, nipping his jaw. “My face is too valuable.”

“Shut up,” Joshua laughs, shoving at Mingyu’s chest. Mingyu moves easily, but he comes back, magnetic attraction, and the kisses they trade this time are slow and sensual and toe-curling. Mingyu starts kneading Joshua’s thighs, pulling breathy noises from between his teeth, and when he gets a hand around Joshua’s dick over his underwear, Joshua swears under his breath. It’s been a really long time since he’s had someone else’s hand on his dick and he’s been on edge since the elevator.

“Mingyu-yah,” he says, breath hitching when Mingyu’s grip tightens in response, “Maybe we should get-- _ah_ \--get out if we’re gonna--”

“What, are you close already, hyung?” Mingyu teases, sucking Joshua’s earlobe into his mouth.

“Yes.” 

“Wow, really? Okay, um, should we go to the room?”

Joshua shakes his head, “Too far. Bathrooms.”

Mingyu nods and pulls back only after leaving one last kiss on Joshua’s lips. Before he can overthink it, Joshua stands and steps out of the pool. Mingyu’s eyes drop to where his dick is valiantly trying to tent his soaking underwear, and normally Joshua would shy away, but he decides to be brave, allows Mingyu to look. 

He looks at Joshua like he’s something sacred and breathes, “Wow, hyung, you’re so gorgeous.” And that, out of everything, is what makes Joshua blush the most.

“Hurry up and get out,” Joshua mumbles. Mingyu dutifully steps out of the pool and water cascades over his body like diamonds. His black underwear leaves nothing to the imagination and Joshua almost whimpers at the sight, but he bites his lip to hold it in and grabs Mingyu’s hand to guide him to the bathroom, suddenly feeling desperate. 

There’s a larger room with a shower and a door that locks, so Joshua tugs Mingyu inside and clicks the lock. It feels more real, here--the lights are brighter and they can see all of each other--but it doesn’t stop them from crashing back together, hands and mouths reaching whatever they can. Mingyu backs Joshua against the door. “Can I take these off?” He snaps the waistband of Joshua’s underwear. 

“Yeah, but you too,” gasps Joshua, and Mingyu eagerly complies. After a few seconds of awkward maneuvering, Mingyu gets Joshua’s underwear down to his ankles, and then his own, and then they’re back to looking at each other. 

Joshua wonders what Mingyu sees. Maybe he would ask, if he were braver, but all he can say is, “Are you nervous?”

“Are you?” Mingyu volleys.

“Maybe. A bit. Yes.”

Mingyu exhales. “Thank god, so am I.” He brings both of his hands up to cradle Joshua’s face and kisses his top lip. “But you want this?”

“Yes,” Joshua whispers. _So much_.

Mingyu smiles at him, all tender and beautiful. “Tell me if… if it feels good.” He licks his palm and brings it between them to wrap around Joshua’s dick and Joshua’s head falls back heavily against the door at the feeling. Mingyu wastes no time, getting into a rhythm that has Joshua pushing up onto his toes and chanting, _yes, feels good, you’re doing so well, there, there, there,_ fingers digging into Mingyu’s biceps, revelling in the feeling of his muscles flexing and Mingyu’s teeth grazing the underside of his jaw. It feels like it lasts forever, but really it’s only a few minutes before Joshua’s body locks up and he comes with a soft noise, all over Mingyu’s hand and his own stomach. 

“Oh my god,” Mingyu says brokenly, bringing his hand to his own dick and fisting it furiously as Joshua catches his mouth in a kiss that’s all tongue and no finesse. He feels delirious off his own orgasm and the high, reedy whines Mingyu pushes into his mouth in the seconds before he comes, spilling hot against Joshua’s stomach and the crease of his hip. 

Mingyu slumps into Joshua’s arms, breathing heavily. “Oh my god,” he repeats.

“Yeah,” Joshua laughs. 

They catch their breath like that. Joshua is a little sticky and uncomfortable, but Mingyu has folded himself so perfectly into the circle of Joshua’s arms, molded to fit like he never tries to be with Joshua, and the context is different--they literally just got each other off and Joshua’s mouth is swollen from Mingyu’s teeth--but it feels new and special all the same.

They both take a quick shower to rinse the chlorine and come off their bodies, giggling under the ugly fluorescents and stealing kisses whenever they get close enough. Luckily it’s not midnight yet and nobody has come to clean up and lock the pool door, so they steal a bathrobe each and hurry out into the corridor like kids skipping class.

This time, they’re not the only ones in the elevator. The old couple doesn’t pay them any attention but Joshua can’t look Mingyu in the eye until they get off at the tenth floor. 

“Do you think they could tell?” Mingyu asks when they’re walking to their room.

“I don’t think so,” Joshua says, opening the door with the card. “How would they know?” Mingyu guides him over to the vanity and makes Joshua look at his reflection. He gasps when he sees how bitten pink his lips are. There’s a mark blooming along his collarbone. “Mingyu,” he breathes, pulling the bathrobe aside to look at it properly. “How am I supposed to hide this? We’re going back in two days! There’s no way it’ll be gone by then.”

“Sorry! I got carried away. Maybe just like… keep your shirt on and tell everyone you got sunburnt and you’re like, embarrassed about it.”

“I can’t do that, Seungcheol will ask to see how bad it is.”

“Uh, fuck, I don’t know, tell them you’re shy!”

“That’s even worse!”

Mingyu looks at Joshua’s panicked expression and just--bursts into laughter. 

“Mingyu!” Joshua cries.

“I’m s-sorry,” Mingyu heaves, crumpling into a ball on the carpet. “It’s just. It’s so ridiculous.”

It is. It’s crazy. If Joshua weren’t still faced with the very real hickey on his chest and the fresh memory of Mingyu’s face when he comes, he might already be talking himself out of ever believing something happened between the two of them. 

When Mingyu finally settles, he props himself up with an elbow and reaches out to wrap a gentle hand around Joshua’s ankle, rubbing the bone with his thumb. “How about this,” he says. “I buy you dinner. For a month.”

Joshua narrows his eyes. “Two months. And I get to choose where we go. _And_ you cover for me when the others start to get nosy and ask questions.”

“Uggghhhhh, fine,” Mingyu says, flopping onto his back. “But only if you come down here and kiss me again.”

And how could Joshua say no to that.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/dygonilly)


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